Toscar Rosado 2008

It is that time of year when a good rose is in order. Well, it is normally. We’ve been getting good rain here in Melbourne, which is odd for this time of year but more than welcome. This puppy is 100% monastrell from Alicante, and it confirms my thoughts that the best two grapes for rose from Spain are Monastrell and Garnarcha. Although a rosado made from Mencia that I tasted a couple of weeks ago was excellent as well…mor on that soon.

“My Favourite Spanish Wine” 2007

It is quite a cheeky name, but the value here is unmistakable. I’m sure google will have a field day with the title of this post too…So a similar blend to the 2005 I reviewed a while ago, Tempranillo and Monastrell from Alicante in all its fresh and rustic glory. And it’s in screwcap now [...]

Laudum Monastrell ‘Barrica Especial’ 2006

I’ve done a couple of blind tastings this year with monastrell and blends of monatrell with things like cabernet, merlot, tempranillo, syrah, even some viura. But I come to the same conclusion each and every time:  I’m a much bigger fan of these straight Monastrell wines than the blended wines. I think that says more [...]

Laudum Crianza 2004

A blend of mostly old vine Monastrell with some Cabernet and Merlot. It goes into new french and american oak for 16 months and in to bottle…

Toscar Monastrell 2007

Toscar Monastrell 2007

I’m amazed that this wine is still $14, given all the movements in currency etc that have gone on over the past year. With exchange rates getting back towards the levels they were at 18 months ago (sitting around .57-.58 Aussie to a Euro), things are looking up and hopefully keeping any large price increases at bay. Anyway, I had a bit of a revelation with the classic description for Monastrell about a year ago. While eating a plate of ripe figs, I thought: ‘Hey this tastes like Monastrell’. I think fig and wild gamey notes are the primary flavours in monastrell from these southern regions of Spain.

Toscar Tempranillo Crianza 2007

I last looked at the 2003 vintage of this wine, and I think this is a little better. Just a quick note on this one…I have a fair backlog to get through.

Toscar Sauvignon Blanc 2008

What does Sauvignon Blanc from Alicante taste like? Is it another passion-fruit, tropical fruit copy of the now ubiquitous NZ style? Not at all, this is rather herbal and grassy, and to my mind more adult than many of the new world versions we see here (there are exceptions of course, Mahi comes to mind as a big exception). It does have a sense of being more savoury than sweet too.

Toscar Monastrell 2006

The QPR (Quality to Price Ratio) winner from earlier this year is back with the 2006 edition. And if anything it’s more convincing. We didn’t do much on cup day, I had a heap of work to do, but I cracked this open with some albóndigas con tomates about 6 o’clock.

Primitivo Quiles Raspay Reserva 2002

This is a classic case of ‘you should never judge a wine by it’s label’. I was introduced to this little number at a Spanish Acquisition tasting and I initially had my doubts about the packaging, but after tasting the wine and having a good fondle of the bottle, I love it. The Spanish flag ribbon over the top of the bottle and the old school label set the context, and the contents of the bottle are reel you in. I’m told the winemaker here calls this the Barolo of Spain, and he’s not too far wrong.

Primitivo Quiles Fondillon ‘El Abuelo’ Gran Reserva

So this is literally the Grandfather Fondillion from PQ (El Abuelo means grandfather in Spanish). The solera for this wine was started in 1892 and even though it is a single barrel, it is managed in the same way that solera is. Only a small amount is drawn from the solera each year and a small amount of new wine replaces the drawn out wine. Only something like 350 bottles are drawn from the solera in this case.